Boiling Point
iDreamless

Dreams proved another staple in Lu Ten's life. Some nights the dreams proved more vivid than the thoughts which rattled around in his head while other nights they simply made the thoughts rattle around even more. Dreamless nights were a whole different issue, creating a feeling that he was losing himself, yet thankfully the number of dreamless nights in his cell was limited. Dreams also didn't help measure the amount of time that passed.

"Isn't he precious?" He remembered in one of his dreams as the newest prince in the royal family was presented to him. Looking down at Zuko, Lu Ten couldn't help but feel a rather warm feeling seeping through his bones, the eyes of the mere babe drawing him in. There wasn't much more to the dream outside of a wistful feeling, though perhaps if there was something more it didn't remain in his head as his eyes opened.

Lu Ten would have liked his eyes to have been greeted by sunlight creeping through a window, yet they kept him away from the sun at night as they did all of the other Firebenders. Despite this, his mind still imagined the sunlight as well as the sound of Zuko's voice the last time the boy, his son, entered his quarters back at the palace. He didn't remember what the reason was, given the fact the many different visits seemed to blend into each other. Lu Ten did remember he enjoyed the visit.

"Why?"

Lu Ten let out a sigh, knowing full well he would need to wait for a soldier to come and let him out of his cell despite the fact he was already rising with the sun. The reason for the dark mood he found himself in had nothing to do with the fact he had to wait for the chance to be in the yard, but more of how the dream left him wondering if he'd have felt different back then at age sixteen looking down at Zuko as an infant.

"Perhaps not." Lu Ten sat up, looking at the cell down, noting how he'd found himself attached to the boy from the very beginning, but there didn't seem like an option of more when it came to how he felt about Zuko. He reached up a pair of hands, rubbing the back of his neck and letting out a sigh, closing his eyes. "Don't think about it. Don't think about it because you can't do anything in here. Plus..."

The little voice in the back of his head said, "Ozai will use Zuko to retaliate."

He didn't know why he'd thought that given the fact he didn't suspect Ozai of knowing. Stretching his limbs, he stood up before proceeding into a few morning exercises he'd gotten into the routine of in hopes of keeping in shape, or as much as he could be given he was sealed within the prison that Ozai created. When the guards came, he followed the routine, not thinking anything of it, particularly when none of the others paid him any mind. But then...

"Lu Ten?"

The voice was soft, but the fact someone recognized his name made him lift his head, an inkling of hope setting in, yet quickly faltering when a particular realization hit him upon recognizing the person. "Akio."

"I thought..."

Lu Ten swallowed, finishing for the other man. "I know." He sucked in his breath. "My father?"

The way Akio's eyes blinked made him nearly flinch, or perhaps it was what his childhood friend said, speaking softly so no one else might hear. "You aren't going to ask about your son?"

"Do I deserve..." Lu Ten stopped himself from saying much more, sitting against the wall of the prison, still shocked at seeing his old friend.

"Do you..." Akio shook his head, sliding down against the wall. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Considering..."

"You're by far..." Akio stopped. "Lu Ten, what exactly do you know. I mean, about what's going on outside."

"I know my uncle killed my grandfather and became Fire Lord."

"You..." Akio paused, his eyes narrowing. "Well, that makes far more sense."

Lu Ten let out a sigh, leaning against the wall, soaking up the sun. "I guess."

"I mean, it didn't make sense nobody was questioning him becoming Fire Lord." Akio sighed. "Correction. That's why I'm here, you might say."

"How is..." Lu Ten swallowed.

"I kept my promise. Some days I wondered if that was the best thing, but I saw your father interact with Prince Zuko a few times and it didn't seem like it mattered. He would have taken him in open armed either way. But..."

"But what?"

"You really don't know?"

"All I know is that Ozai's taken over. That, and there is no real way of getting out of here, or at least not without help."

"And even if you did, you worry what he might do, particularly if he knew?" Akio shook his head. "I've failed you, my old friend."

"You..." Lu Ten laughed. "You failed me, yet you are here, which means you didn't go along with my uncle's schemes."

"No. And truth be told I don't know the details, just..."

"How long has it been?" Lu Ten asked. "The last time I learned how much time had passed since I supposedly died, it was about six months. How much time now?"

"Prince Zuko is about thirteen now."

"So, a couple of years," Lu Ten thought bitterly. His youngest would now be a year or two old, but Zuko was now in his teens. Those two years weren't years he could easily make up, but if he ever did, he knew he'd try and find a way. "What's happened in that time?"

"Lu Ten, I wish that I'd told him. That I'd not kept my promise to you."

"Why?" Lu Ten looked Akio in the eye. "Please tell me that my father isn't dead."

"No."

His stomach lurched. "Zuko?"

"No." Akio looked away. "Banished."

"Because..." Lu Ten looked at his hands, wondering if it was because of him that his son was banished from their homeland.

"I don't know the details, outside of the fact Iroh is with him. It's why I was thrown into here. I was asking questions that Ozai didn't want to be asked. If there was a time for either to know, this would probably be it."

"You did what you thought was best," Lu Ten swallowed. "It is good to have a friend." In the back of his head, it felt as if trying to escape became an even more precarious thing, given the fact he didn't know what Ozai knew let alone would do if he were to learn of a successful escape.